Category Archives: Amesse

Have you seen the exhibit in the library’s main lobby, Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race? The exhibit is a partnership with the traveling exhibit from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum that is at the Fulginiti from March 20-May 22, 2018. Visit the Fulginiti before the exhibit closes next week!

The Blood Donor Center currently has about three times the number of Hematology/Oncology patients we normally see this time of year, and are transfusing a much higher volume of platelets than average. We need your help to ensure that we are able to meet patient needs!

Having our own Blood Donor Center allows us to meet the specialized needs of children.

What is a platelet donation? Platelets are the components of your blood necessary to control bleeding. During a procedure called apheresis, we use a Trima machine to separate your blood into its individual components: red cells, plasma & platelets. The machine can then collect just the platelets from your blood (or a combination of platelets, plasma &/or red cells) and return the rest using just one needle.

Nora Eldridge is the “woman upstairs” in Claire Messud’s book of the same name. As she recounts the tale of a unique love that has helped redefine her, we learn that she’s got a good sense of humor, is a reliable friend, good daughter, and a devoted teacher. But there’s a woman angry at her invisibility and missed opportunity lurking just below the surface. She’s had enough of being the “woman upstairs” and dreams of fulfilling success that she feels has passed her by. Her story evolves into part mid-life identity crisis, part psychological thriller when her sedate life crosses paths with a dazzling and exotic international family of academic, artist and cherished child.

Their exciting personal history throws Nora’s life is into relief, highlighting all the danger, creativity, success, and elegance lacking in her own. As her fascination and deeply felt belief in her love of each family member grows, she becomes more convinced of her importance in their lives. Nora’s good humor and routine disintegrate into bitterness and upheaval as she begins to doubt her value. As the tale unfolds to an O’Henry-esque conclusion, the reader is left to wonder if Nora has the edginess and drive or the disregard for other’s opinions that will allow her to commit to her hoped-for life? Or maybe she just needs the right sort of betrayal?

You can find this book in the Health Science Library’s Amesse leisure reading collection in an alcove on the east wall of the first floor. Call number: Amesse F MESSUD WOM

The words deoxyribonucleic acid, or simply DNA, are familiar to the vast majority of people and most likely invoke images of a double helix, chromosomes, and Gregor Mendel and his pea plants. But the story behind DNA and the men and women who uncovered its secrets is far more interesting than one might imagine.

Sam Kean brilliantly relays this fascinating history in The Violinist’s Thumb. From Artic explorers discovering that their skin will fall off after indulging in polar bear liver to an unfortunate Japanese man who not only survived the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima but also of Nagasaki, Kean sheds light on the endlessly amazing journey of DNA.

The reader will meet: Columbia’s “Fly Boys” who worked tirelessly with Drosophila during the day while one of whom worked tirelessly to chase women by night; Paganini, the inspiration for the book’s title, the violinist who could play music like no other before or since because he suffered a genetic disease that allowed his ligaments to be looser than the average musician; Charles Darwin, not only was he the man that gave science the theory of evolution, but he was also a man who suffered an extraordinary amount of conditions, such as frequent vomiting and irritation of the bowels; the rival scientists and consortia working on the cut-throat business of the Human Genome Project through public and private endeavors; and many more amazing men and women in the pages of the history of DNA.

Genes and chromosomes may be enthralling by themselves, but discovering the people behind the missteps and discoveries of genetics is a continuously intriguing journey. Kean’s writing brings this story to life in a charming and enjoyable manner that will make the reader crave more.

In Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese blends medicine, culture, religion, and family saga into a compelling Zhivago-esque tale set in India, Ethiopia and New York. At the start of the novel, a nun trained as a nurse in India and a surgeon trained in Scotland arrive in post-World War II Ethiopia to work in a small medical clinic. Sister Mary Joseph Praise and Thomas Stone form an efficient surgical team, providing services valued by emperor and everyman. When Sister Mary Joseph Praise dies while giving birth to twins and Stone abandons his twin sons, the remaining doctors step in to raise Marion and Shiva Stone.

While the story is set mostly within the political turmoil of 1960’s and 1970’s Ethiopia, the novel makes significant historical events personal. Marion Stone, the novel’s narrator, moves from Ethiopia to New York, and grows to adulthood and advances through his medical training. Marion observes the world around him, describing political events, the poverty and humanity of the patients, the skill of the doctors and aides, and innovative practice of medicine in challenging settings. Verghese avoids stereotypes and simplifications to portray life and death at the clinic and the unforeseen consequences of individual choices. In doing so, he banishes western preconceptions about African medical care.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese is in the Amesse collection, first floor Commons alcove, call number F VERGHESE CUT.